Help & Advice

The fear of birth and or the fear of pregnancy are known as tokophobia.

Someone I know and am friends with on Facebook just posted the following on her page:

Tokophobia - fear of childbirth or pregnancy. Does having nightmares of both for eleven years after being pregnant and giving birth and doubling up on birth control methods for several years after the kid was born to prevent another pregnancy count as a phobia? I think it probably does. Apparently I'm not the only woman who has this.

I'm such a pregnancy and birth junkie that it never even crossed my mind that there would be such a deep-seated fear of birth or fear of pregnancy as to be a clinical phobia.

Do you know anyone who has such a fear of birth or fear of pregnancy that she might be considered tokophobic?

Thanks for reading and sharing,

Tara

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AcesPlaceDate 8/31/2013

Oh yes, I understand. I totally get it. I made the decision as a young teenager that I was never having any children. Now I am over 50, and I have no children. It was a bitter battle defending myself against family members who wanted to be grandparents and boyfriends who left me because I wouldn't have kids. I always told them I wasn't having any children, but they thought they could change me. When I didn't change, it hit the fan. Every childbirth I have ever seen is either degrading, mutilating, sadistic, abusive and/or demeaning. And I could never figure out why women complained about nerve damage or prolapse when they voluntarily became pregnant. Didn't they think about that before they became pregnant? I just opted out. I like the fact that I don't pee myself and I am not paying for anybody else's college. Not having a child irritates the heck out of people in your life, you have to be really aggressive to back them down. For some reason, they get mad because I am evidence that their children don't have to have children, and they don't want their children to see my lifestyle. I think they are jealous of the freedom I have, actually, and I don't think some of them like being mothers. Too late now. But I didn't see any reason to damage a perfectly good body for a child I would only resent after the fact. I get your friend. I get her totally.